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the freedom of the forest too confining. What about Mist?"
Aspen smiled. "What of Mist, indeed?"
"I mean, how old is he?"
"A handful of decades older than you," Aspen told her. "As far as I
know. He was born among the Hidden Folk, did you know?"
"Really?" Shadow blinked in amazement. "But Aubry's cousin? I
thought all of Aubry's folk were Redoaks."
"One of his mother's mother's sisters mated among the Silvertips,"
Aspen said. "Mist is of that branch of the family. Most of the Silvertips
were slaughtered in the Black Wars; what was left merged with the
Goldeneyes. Mist left the Hidden Folk only a decade ago to join Aubry's
folk to the south."
"Explains the accent," Shadow nodded. "And the sword dancing, which
is all but a lost art. Also why he's so in demand for High Circles. Is he
Gifted?"
Aspen chuckled.
"Many of our women appear to think so," he said. "You must draw your
own conclusions."
"AH right, his own business," Shadow agreed. She watched the dancers
for a few minutes. "Say, Aspen, what am I going to do about Donya?"
"What are you going to do?" Aspen mocked. "What is there for you to
do but let her find her own answers, her own mate? This is a human
foolishness, this business of arranged matings and heirs, and elves should
not involve themselves in it."
"Oh, but it's such an interesting foolishness," Shadow laughed. "Short
lives they live, but never dull ones!"
"Surely your own exploits are more interesting by far," Aspen told her.
"The tales the trading elves bring us have kept us all entertained."
"Oh, I wouldn't have had those exploits if it hadn't been for the
humans," Shadow admitted. "Donya most of all."
"But have you no goals of your own?" Aspen asked.
"Me?" Shadow hurriedly reached for a wineskin to fill her cup. "Oh, I'm
a person of simple needs, Aspen. I'll see Doe through her present
difficulties. One or two more years and I'll have the Guild on its feet and a
successor ready to take over."
"Are you so eager to be rid of the Guild?" Aspen asked interestedly.
"Guildmistress is an unenviable position," Shadow sighed. "I hardly get
a chance to practice myself anymore. If some two-copper pickpocket isn't
trying to cheat me out of the Guild's dues, he's trying to kill me for the
seat. No, let someone else have the headaches; I've served my term and
past."
"What will you do then?" Aspen said. "Return to the forest?"
"Ah, I see the hook under that bait," Shadow laughed. "You're tired of
being Eldest and you're looking for another elf old enough and foolish
enough to be tricked into taking over. Well, forget it. After Allanmere it's
the open road for me, my friend new places to see, new wines to drink,
new men to tumble."
"What, have you exhausted every pleasure Allanmere and the forest
have to offer?" Mist asked significantly, sitting down beside Shadow.
"Your friend, I fear, has at least for this night. Her snores threaten to
vanquish the walls of the hut where I left her dreaming."
"Poor Doe," Shadow chuckled. "She's had a tough time of it lately. I
hope she didn't fall asleep too soon."
Mist smiled lazily, tracing the edge of Shadow's ear with a feather-light
fingertip.
"Often a tasty tidbit merely whets the appetite for a feast," he said.
"Do you know, I've got a bit of an appetite myself," Shadow said,
grinning as she captured the tickling finger.
"Oh, please," Aspen groaned. "Do take your play elsewhere. As Eldest, it
is still some hours before I may leave the festival and attend to my
appetite."
"So speaks the poor deprived Eldest, who has the enviable duty of
cementing the alliance with each chieftess attending the festival," Mist
laughed. "Come, Shadow, let us leave this poor unfortunate to his
starvation."
Shadow took his hand and stood, only to turn as an abrupt silence fell
over the clearing.
A slender figure stumbled into the firelit circle, mumbled something
unintelligible, and collapsed. Even from where she sat, Shadow recognized
the bronze braid and six-fingered hands of the elves' captive.
"How did he get out of the hut?" Shadow asked, approaching the fallen
man. He was unconscious again. Shadow noticed with interest that while
he was still naked, he had donned the necklace.
"I have no idea," Aspen said amazedly, "but we had best get him back."
"I will carry him," Mist declared, carefully lifting the stranger.
Shadow had been amazed enough to see him; however, her amazement
was nothing to that of the two guards, still stationed outside the door of
the hut.
"By the Mother Forest!" one exclaimed as the other hurriedly opened
the door of the hut and peered confusedly inside. "How did he escape?"
"I would like to know that myself," Aspen said gently. "How did he pass
you?"
"I swear by the very earth he did not," the guard protested, and the
other nodded. "We have heard not so much as a cough from him since you
left. Arin checked him not an hour ago and he was deeply asleep."
"I see no holes in the walls," Mist said, laying the sick man back on the
sling-bed. "He could scarce have fit through the windows, nor yet have
flown through the smoke hole in the roof."
"Well, he got out somehow," Shadow said practically, "and I can't see
that he burrowed through the floor like a rootworm. He's too sick to have
done much of anything in an hour." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]